that's in the letter that john boehner wrote to the president. break that down for us. >> that's right. there is no numbers breaking that down. it's a where's the beef question. bumper sticker, we have the numbers but no details. boehner's aides will say that's where the negotiations come in. the devil's in the details. they'll say look, to achieve these revenue increases by closing deductions and loopholes. in the letter boehner sent, he says they may be able to lower some rates based on comments made by erskine bowles. >> i think for folks especially we're left to wonder. some analysis shows it's possible. >> i think for folks especially the middle class, they're trying to figure out the math. those deductions and loopholes, do they actually dig into the middle class? >> that's right. and what the romney campaign tried to do with a similar style proposal. and in fact the democratic group third way said if they got a $35,000 cap and excluded charitable deductions, they might be able to reach that $800 billion target. that is however not lowering